US tops destinations for Turkish graduates moving abroad
ANKARA
The United States emerged as the primary destination for Turkish university graduates pursuing careers and education abroad last year, reflecting a steady trend in the country’s ongoing brain drain, according to the country’s official statistics body.
Nearly one in five graduates who left the country chose to settle in the U.S., followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on Oct. 24.
Among those heading to the U.S., electrical and electronics engineering graduates formed the largest group.
Meanwhile, computer engineering graduates were the most likely to choose Germany, the U.K. or the Netherlands and business graduates made up the largest share of those moving to Canada.
Overall, 2 percent of higher education graduates in Türkiye emigrated in 2024, a rate unchanged from the previous year.
By field of study, the highest brain drain occurred in information and communication technologies, followed by engineering and natural sciences.
At the program level, molecular biology and genetics graduates showed the highest migration rate, ahead of business engineering, electronics engineering, mathematics engineering and bioengineering.
Graduates of private universities were more likely to move abroad than those from public institutions, with an emigration rate of 4.3 percent compared to 1.7 percent.
Among private university graduates, those who studied on full scholarships had the highest rate.
Graduates who studied in French had the highest emigration rate among language groups, followed by English, German and Russian-taught programs.
